前兩天醫生朋友K從海地的來信，幸好他寫德英對照雙語版，我就免翻譯了。
it is amazing how time goes by: in only one and a half week I will return home (via New York and Paris for debriefing). The situation here hasn’ t changed a lot (although it is generally a bit more calm than some month ago): most of our patients we receive after fighting between UN (MINUSTHA) and haitian police (PNH) against gangs. Most of them are civilians who happen to be between the frontlines when fighting begins. Different from weeks ago we have recently received quite a few heavily wounded children.
Junior, a 13 year old boy, with gunshot wound (GSW) lower abdomen has got some wholes in his intestines and a paresis of his left leg.
Naid, 7 years old, is tetraplegic after GSW neck.
Destiu, 3 years old, was hit by several fragments in thorax, abdomen, left leg and face. He had a ruptured spleen and although he is kind of stable since OT I am not yet sure whether he will survive.
Smith, 11 years old, with GSW head is doing well after an operation I performed with an haitian neurosurgeon (1 out of 3 in Haiti). He is very lucky that he arrived at daytime at out hospital, so that I could call this haitian colleague who is well paid for his service (during night time he doesn’t dare to go to hospital and I surely wouldn’t have been able to perform this operation in same quality without him).
Marjorie, 12 years old, also had luck, the tangential through and through GSW in her lumbar region didn’t damage bowels or nerves.
All these children we received within one week. Therefore Ali (our head of mission) went to talk with MINUSTHA and was told that the gangs would take civilians under fire to blame MINUSTHA afterwards.
I am very happy that Kelly our new australian Anaesthesist works as paediatric anaesthesist in her normal life. This saves quite a lot of time for me (I don’t have to calculate all the weight adapted dosages for the kids) and it is a good feeling to know that on this side a real expert is working. Moreover working with her is far more relaxed and straight forward than with her predecessor where I always wondered who needs first to be given some valium: the hyperthyroid anaesthesist to calm down or me to be able to work quietly despite her hectic manners.
The 2 burns patients I mentioned in my last letter died. Getting to know that her son has died the mother of the boy first reacted in an understandable way with crying and lots of gestures. Then she started almost to fit and several other relatives had to hold her back not to throw herself down the staircase. This was the moment when I thought about giving an valium injection to calm her down but my haitian colleague told me not do so because of the behaviour being not uncommen here and an injection in this state of mind is believed to kill the one who receives it. I had forgotten that Haiti is after all the land of Vodou. When the cadaver of the boy was carried away by his relatives it was even more impressive: one oncle banged down to the ground loudly crying and then continued for several minutes to turn around and to beat the ground with his fists. An instant later the grandmother did just the same. I couldn’t imagine that this was without any fractures for both of them.
Some days later we received a family after an explosion in their household. The father was only slightly injured but the baby died shortly after arrival in hospital. The mother who had 80% of her body surface burned (2nd and 3rd degree) died 5 days later despite intensive radical debridements. Ronald, the 7 year old boy, with 40% 3rd degree and 10% 2nd degree burns (especially on extremities and head, he looks quite like the “english patient” in the movie) seems to make it – after hours of radical debridments and thanks to Kelly’s experience in paediatric intensive care. In one of the next days he will need some skingraft, which I am not yet sure how to do (great surface to cover, so far I haven’t done that after such burns).........
實踐生命的方式。
世界，在遠方也在身邊。
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